Heart of Darkness

Co-produced by Marche Teatro and Cast. Supported by Arts Council England, Lancaster Arts at Lancaster University and Theatre by the Lake.

Following the popular and critically acclaimed adaptation of Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, imitating the dog turn their attention to Joseph Conrad’s extraordinarily influential novel, Heart of Darkness.

Written more than 100 years ago, amid the optimism at the turn of a new century, it’s a tale of lies and brutal greed and of the dark heart which beats within us all. Now re-sited in a timeless Europe, in a forsaken landscape lost to the destructive lust for power, it emerges as a tale absolutely for our time.

This bold re-telling of Conrad’s classic is a visually rich, multi-layered work which fuses live performance with digital technology.

The performers enter the stage, into uncharted territory. They are adrift with a story that they know they must tell. As they wait for the turn of the tide, the story unfolds like an animated Cinemascope graphic novel on the hanging projections screens above their heads.

Their story is Conrad’s story, of the voyage into the perilous unknown. And, as we continue the journey, it becomes our story, exposing the dehumanisation that paved the way for the horrors of the 20th Century, and countless horrors yet to come.

The heart of darkness must be found. The story is impossible to tell, but it must be told.